OUR READERS WRITE...

August 24, 2014

The Brightway Center recently held an obstacle/fun run at Memorial Park in Salem that was called "The Race for the ROC."

Thanks to Brightway Center for being the primary sponsor to this fun event.

On behalf of the ROC of Salem Inc. we would like to thank those from the surrounding communities for their participation in the race. The various obstacles presented an interesting and entertaining challenge to our racers.

We had numerous volunteers who came out to support the ROC and Brightway and the racers. We truly appreciate their time and contribution to the event.

The local community has generously supported the race by offering sponsorships and advertising. This race could not happen without the generous financial support we receive each year from our sponsors.

Special thanks go to Parks Director Steve Faber, Jim Grimm and their crew. Memorial Park was in excellent shape and out of town visitors commented on the beautiful facility we have in Salem

Thanks also to the Salem Police, Fire Department and KLG Ambulance for their time and support and helping to insure we have a safe event. Many of our racers enjoyed the water spray from the fire department after they crawled through two mud obstacles.

Thanks especially to Giant Eagle and Gordon Brothers for generously providing fresh fruit and water to all the racers.

The ROC of Salem is a 501(c) (3) charitable corporation that operates as an interdenominational Christian ministry designed to be an introduction of Christianity to youth. We are open three nights each week at the facility on South Lundy. The Race proceeds will allow us to continue to work with these young people.

LARRY G. CECIL,

Board president

CAROLINE McDERMOTT,

Race director

ERIC HAMILTON,

Executive director

Opposed to editorial about child support

To the editor:

The Salem News' editorial, "Improving child support in our state," relies on the offensive and, more importantly, misleading stereotype of the "deadbeat parent."

Most parents behind in their child support are not deadbeat parents but dead broke parents. The federal government recognizes this. The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) reports: "Combined, obligors with no reported income or reported income below $10,000 per year accounted for half of the obligors, and they owed 70 percent of the arrears in the study States."

License suspension and jail terms hinder a parent's ability to get and hold a job. This is why many child support experts - not noted for being sympathetic to the plight of poor child support obligors - have begun shifting their focus from ever more draconian enforcement methods to programs to enable parents to be able to pay their child support.

The editorial also fails to note some of the most important ways in which Ohio child support laws are behind the times. Most states include some form of "parenting time adjustment," recognizing that when parents share the rearing of their children, both parents have direct expenses on the children. Ohio has no parenting time adjustment. The presumption, which can be overcome only by engaging in a potentially lengthy and certainly expensive court battle, is that a parent who has his children with him 40 percent of the time owes exactly as much child support as a parent who never sees his child (other things being equal). Most noncustodial divorced parents have their children with them between 20 percent and 30 percent of the time. They have significant direct expenses on their children. The Ohio child support guidelines do not recognize a single penny of these expenses.

And, the most important change in Ohio law for the benefit of children whose parents are living apart would be to enact a legal (rebuttable) presumption of true shared parenting. Well more than 90 percent of parents who have shared parenting of their children pay all child support ordered.

The National Parents Organization (www.nationalparentsorganization.org) is the leading national organization working to make shared parenting the norm when parents separate. Realizing this goal would foster the support, both financial and emotional, of children much more effectively than increasing child support rates or penalties for those who cannot meet their child support obligations.

DONALD C. HUBIN,

Columbus

Ladies Auxiliary preparing care packages

To the editor:

The Ladies Auxiliary of AMVETS Post 45 plans to send care packages to deployed members of the military, timed to arrive before the holidays. In order for this project to be successful, the auxiliary needs names and current addresses of those men and women from Salem, Ohio, and the surrounding area who are serving our country.

Please ask your readers to respond, and also to note whether the individual is a man or a woman so that the service member may receive appropriate healthcare products.

Depending on where the individual is stationed, it may take awhile for packages to be delivered so please ask readers to submit the information as soon as possible.

TAMMIE SHEPPARD,

Ladies Auxiliary president,

AMVETS Post 45

Salem

Iden memorial breakfast, shoot a success

To the editor:

The 11th annual Lowell Iden memorial breakfast and trap shoot was once again a great success.

The Salem Hunting Club and the family and friends of Lowell Iden and Larry Iler would like to thank everyone who helped make this the best year ever. All proceeds from this event go to the Lowell Iden-Larry Iler Scholarship Fund. This year's recipients are Kathryn Zeppernick of Salem, attending Hocking College with a major in natural historical interpretation; and Syndey Spencer of Salem, attending Hocking College, majoring in wildlife resource management.

We would like to thank the following businesses for their contributions and support: Runzo's Outdoor Sports for donating 410 shells for the youth to shoot. Also contributing to our Chinese auction: Salem Welding and Supply, Fred Baker; Salem Sparkle Market, Columbiana Dairy Queen, Phil's Sales and Service of Columbiana; Frontiers Unlimited, JWB Supply and East Ohio Shooters Supply, all of Lisbon. Thanks also to the many individuals who donated baskets and cash donations.

Thanks again for the large support of family, friends, club members, merchants, news media and everyone who attended and helped make this annual fundraiser a big success.

Thanks to you, the Salem Hunting Club will be able to continue giving scholarships in the future.

Janet Iden,

Salem

Salem police and FD, KLG earn praise

To the editor:

I would like to take a minute to thank the Salem Police Department and the fire department and KLG Ambulance service for their quick response to a traffic accident that my sister was in last week in Salem. Your attention to detail to her was of great importance.

Thank you Rod Hughes for your help with my sister. Salem still has good people who care about their citizens.

STEVE GALCHICK,

Lisbon

To the editor:

The crisis on the border might be dominating the headlines when it comes to immigration. It's an important aspect of the issue, no doubt, but it should not be our only focus when it comes to improving our broken system.

Ohio Agri-Women, a group dedicated to promoting and improving agriculture for the benefit of Ohioans and the world has been very active on the issue of immigration reform as it relates to our industry. We have met with numerous Ohio elected officials in Washington to relay the difficulties our membership faces when it comes to labor and bureaucratic red tape.

Our members are family farmers from across the state. We are made up of fruit growers, nursery owners, and livestock operators, almost all of whom work in labor intensive parts of the industry. As an increasing number of young adults leave their family farm communities to pursue higher education and other opportunities, there are fewer and fewer workers left to tend to the fields.

The agriculture guest worker visa program offered by the federal government makes hiring immigrants impractical. At over $2,000 per application, the guest worker program is cost-prohibitive for many small to mid-sized farmers. The paper work is quite daunting and the number of visas available is quite low. Farm owners want to be able to hire the same workers year after year because those workers get to know the scope of the farms' operations. Yet, that is not easy with the paperwork involved.

The government should also allow more flexibility for worker arrival and departure, rather than unworkable dates set in stone. Contrary to its own perception, the federal government doesn't control the weather. Planting and harvest times fluctuate due to weather conditions. Requiring H2-A workers to arrive at certain designated dates negatively affects production.

The consequences of allowing more time to pass before implementing reform are notable. More food will be grown overseas. It's already happening. A report from the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform found that from 1998 to 2012, a period when American consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables rose significantly, the fresh fruit grown in America increased only slightly and our production of fresh vegetables actually declined-forcing U.S. shoppers to rely more on imported fresh foods. The same study found that a more than a quarter of the U.S. grower domestic market share decline could be attributed to labor shortages.

Our current immigration system is outdated and fails to support a 21st Century American economy. The time for action is now. Join us in calling on the Congressional delegation to strengthen the Ohio economy by fighting for a meaningful immigration reform.

RACHAEL VONDERHAAR,

Camden

(Editor's Note: Rachael Vonderhaar is vice president of Ohio Agri-Women and a family farmer from Camden, Ohio.)